Ithaca SKB- Open up the chokes?

[mannyrock]

Dear Guys,

  My dad has an Ithaca SKB, side by side 12 gauge.  It was made in about 1973, and is in very good mechanical shape.  It has lost lots of its bluing just from carry.

   The gun has fixed chokes, one barrel being full and one being modified.  My Dad doesn't use it anymore (he is 83), but one of his grandson's would like to use it for informal skeet.

    Are there competent gunsmiths out there who could polish open the chokes to improved cylinder and improved cylinder?   If so, could you give me a couple of names, addresses or websites.??  Or, is this just something that isn't done anymore.

   Thanks,

Mannyrock
 

[Graybeard]

Briley would be my recommendation. But any gunsmith worthy of the name should be able to do it. Briley is THE SPECIALIST in this area.

[DonT]

Carlson is another option for tubes and is a little less than Briley.  I would opt for tubes only because if someone wants to use it for other than skeet or trap down the road it allows you to easily change the choke in the gun.

DonT

[SHOOTALL]

I agree with GB Briley wrote the book ! Most gun smiths add choke tubes to single bbl guns and take choke out of dbl. guns . but around here they send double guns to briley to have choke tubes installed in a dbl. gun.
If you remove choke instead of adding tubes you may make the bbl thickness to thin to have tubes added later if you ever wish to use the gun for other sport like clays or such. You have a nice gun and tubes would only add value .
Another way to go at it as a trial on informal skeet is buy a couple LITTLE SKEETERS that allow you to shoot 20 ga. shells in a 12 ga. gun . I use them all the time and they work good with a 12 ga. gun with tight chokes . You can also get them in 28 and 410 for the 12 ga. I like the steel ones better than the alum ones . I use them to reduce kick in pratice .

[mcwoodduck]

Mine has chrome lined bores.  Be carefull.

[Rangr44]

[Mine has chrome lined bores]

All SKB shotguns do, and AFAIK cannot be successfully polished/reamed out, as it is a hard chrome - but can be threaded and tubed if the barrel walls are thick enough. Check with Briley's website for minimum barrel wall thickness.

.

[George Foster]

A friend of mine sent his 20ga 280 SKB to Brileys and they opened the chokes for Mod and Full to Skeet and Light Mod for him.

[basdjs]

As previously stated these are chrome-line guns so I believe changing the choke within the barrel is difficult if not impossible.  Many models of SKB doubles like my 500 and 600 over unders have thin walls and, therefore, require installation of thin-wall choke tubes rather than standard choke tubes.  The only choke tube manufacturer that I know makes thin-walled chokes is Colonial Arms.  But with thin-walled chokes you'll have to shoot lead, bismuth, or some of the newer non-lead shells for classic shotguns.  Colonial Arms will tell you not to shoot steel or Hevi-shot out of their thin-walled tubes.  My SKB 600 has the Colonial tubes and it patterns great for upland game or trap/ skeet.   

[SHOOTALL]

briley has them also i believe